What do we know so far about acupuncture treatment with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?

Recently an article summarized our understanding about acupuncture to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The article was published in journal of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration.

Pre-clinical model studies showed that acupuncture stimulation improved motor neuron survival and delayed loss of motor performance and this was accompanied by reduced inflammatory reaction in acupuncture treated group compared with control group. However, there were many flaws in the designs of studies, including small sample size, non-blind raters.

Clinical studies from separate three groups revealed that effect of acupuncture treatment varied from achieving significant improvement in motor function in some patients to minor alleviation in other patients. However, there was incomplete detail regarding the ALS diagnoses, lack of a control group, failure to use validated ALS outcome measures in those reports.

Nonetheless, some evidence suggests that acupuncture can at least alleviate two common ALS symptoms: pain and spasticity with little adverse effect.

Reference

The ALSUntangled Group (2015) ALSUntangled No. 28: Acupuncture, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration, 16:3-4, 286-289, DOI:10.3109/21678421.2015.1039240.    http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/21678421.2016.1172818

Acupoint injection of Enercel improved neurological function in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Acupuncture could significantly improve neurological functions in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as shown in a case report in journal Acupunct Meridian Study.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), one of motor neuron diseases, is a neurodegenerative disorder. It is characterized by the rapidly progressive muscle weakness leading individuals to loss their strength and the ability to move their arms, legs and body, and accompanied by impaired swallowing, speech and breathing. The cause of the disease is not known and there is no cure for the condition. The available medication such as Rilutek has been shown only to temporally prolong survival time with many side effects.

Researchers in the United State reported an acupuncture case study after seeing markedly improvement in patients with ALS. Two patients with ALS were treated with acupoint injections of Enercel (an herbal preparation consisting of small diluted amount of a variety of plants). Neurological conditions were assessed before and after treatment and the follow-up. The treatment was carried out at the specific acupoints once a day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks.

Patient 1 was a 59-year-old female with one year history of ALS. Before treatment, she showed a flaccid paralysis of all extremities and impaired speech and swallowing. After treatment she demonstrated a significant improvement in motor strength in her hands and feet, in speech and swallowing. A 3-month follow-up assessment found her clinical status slowly worsened but was still improved compared with baseline.

Patient 2 was a 49-year-old male with 16-month history of ALS and had an impaired speech and a mild motor loss of upper extremities and the left leg. Following 4-week treatment his motor function returned to normal and his speech is understandable. The patient continued to have the same treatment during 3-month follow-up and his improvement was maintained.

The case study showed that acupoint injection with Enercel significantly improved neurological conditions in patients with ALS. However, continuous treatment may be necessary to maintain the improvement.

Reference:

Liang S et al., Significant neurological improvement in two patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis after 4 weeks of treatment with acupuncture injection point therapy using enercel. J Acupunct Meridian Stud. 2011 Dec;4(4):257-61.   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22196509